


The Bartender and the Thief

by retrinazambrano



Series: OQ Fix It Week [6]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Outlaw Queen Fix It Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2020-04-06 14:29:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19064542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/retrinazambrano/pseuds/retrinazambrano
Summary: The bartender and the thief are(n't) lovers...





	The Bartender and the Thief

**Author's Note:**

> For OQ Fix It Week, day 6: Roni.

He's got a whisky on the rocks, she's got a milkshake. He's a twenty-something man, she's a preteen girl. Despite their differences, Henry and Lucy sit in the middle of Roni's bar, talking in hushed tones, quite obviously conspiring.

"He was staring at her again today," Lucy tells Henry, who nods, fingers tapping on the table. "Like, he actually had that dazed look in his eyes!" She's excited and understandably so - her momma's friend has been single for so long and despite all the attractive, possibly eligible men - and women - that pass through her doors every day, nothing has lasted more than a matter of months.

Roni constantly insists that she is happy just as she is. She has her friends, her customers, her life. Henry understands this, feeling much the same, needing the space and time to heal after the death of his wife and young daughter, but there is a teeny tiny part of him that is an eternal optimist, that says _sure, you may be happy as you are, and that's great, but it can't hurt to share that with someone, should the right person come along._

And that's where Lucy comes in. The girl spends a lot of time in this place - Roni looks after her like some sort of surrogate nanny whilst Jacinda is working - and she knows he looks at her. Joe, the other bartender, the one with the British accent, friendly eyes and Theo, his adorable son, looks at Roni with such admiration she swears she can see literal heart eyes pop from his face.

Lucy had cornered Henry, picking over some chips and salsa, some weeks before, had explained everything she knew and, before the hour was up, enlisted his help in getting the two on a date.

Except… there was no way either was ever going to agree to a date with the other. They both had strict _no fraternising with the employees rules_ for themselves, so all it came down to was unashamed flirting and longing looks.

\-----

"Hey, Joe," Roni calls out, walking up to where he's standing at the bar, unaware of the two pairs of eyes scrutinising her every move. "Could you do me a massive favour?"

"And what is that, your highness?" He replies with a smirk, placing yet another clean, dry glass upon the bartop.

"Can you stay late tomorrow to help me clean up after this party event… thing?" Roni doesn't usually like to close her place to all customers, but the head guest had put down a sizeable deposit - more like a full downpayment on the place to secure it for the evening - that would keep Victoria goddamn Belfry out of her hair for at least another month. "I know you have Theo on Thursdays, but…" Joe puts his hand up and onto hers, effectively stopping her in her tracks. "Please?" She bats her lashes a little - not a Roni thing, not at all - but she needn't of bothered.

"I already asked Big Guy to keep an eye on Theo tomorrow. I figured you might need a little help if they've put a deposit that hefty down already. You didn't even need to ask," he smiles, his dimples on full show and Roni swears she feels her knees go a little weak.

And she could kiss him. Honestly, she could. Instead, she reaches over the bar and squeezes his hand with a profuse _thank you, thank you, thank you_ before she's called away to serve one of her customers.

Henry and Lucy grin at one another. Operation Blind Date. Status: underway.

\-----

Roni flicks the off switch to the bar sign the following evening, putting up a notice that they're closed for a private function and back to usual business tomorrow lunchtime. She sighs, running her hands through her short curls; the place is pristine, fully stocked, but that's about all right now - the organiser had given absolutely no instructions as to how to set the place up… or much of anything really. All they had asked is that she attend, she had a spare pair of hands to help her and that there were candles.

A candle on each table. That she could do and so the place was bathed in a warm, hazy glow. It's quite romantic, she muses - if you're into that sort of thing. Joe appears behind her with a bowl of mac and cheese - the one food request they were given to fulfil - and places it on the counter.

"What time were the guests meant to arrive?" He asks, wiping down the bar for the umpteenth time, just to have something to do.

"Eight." It's almost twenty past. Roni whips out her phone and checks the email correspondence between herself and the organiser. "Definitely eight… and no phone number to call. Hm." She fires off a quick 'we're waiting' email, but nothing comes back… not at nine, nor half nine, when Roni is so frustrated at the fact that she kept her bar closed for nothing, that she all but throws her phone onto the bar, Joe stopping it from crashing to the floor below.

She's huffing, frustration written clearly on her face when Joe rounds the bar and reaches out to put his hand on her bicep. "I know it's disappointing, but… I guess you get a night off."

Roni shakes her head furiously. "I like to work, Joe. I like it. It gives me purpose." And, to Joe, that sounds quite sad. He urges her a little closer, his arm coming around her shoulders, hugging her to his side.

"Well how about... " he glances over at the big bowl of cheesy goodness. "How about we work on cleaning this pasta bowl, huh?"

The brunette turns and spies the bowl also. She notices just how hungry she is, how loud her stomach protests its emptiness and she shrugs, just as Joe's stomach does the same. They both laugh and Joe picks it up. "Seriously. First one to say they're full has to take a tequila shot."

She squints. "You talk as if that's a bad thing," she laughs as they sit opposite one another, the bowl between them as the candles around them burn on.

\-----

"I am… whoa. I can't… I think I'm a goddamn piece of macaroni," Roni groans, popping open the top button of her jeans as she slumps backwards over her chair in a melodramatic fashion. "Ha! MacaRONI!" And they both chuckle at the, frankly quite terrible, joke. "I am so full!"

Joe is much the same, sans the open button, but grinning. "We finished the pasta though. Not a bite went to waste." And it's true. Over the course of an hour, they have talked everything from politics, both local and national (a sore subject) to music (they, unsurprisingly, have a very similar music taste - Joe's a dab hand at the guitar, Roni a bit of a drummer), through to past loves, both human and abstract… all over cheesy noodles. They're both at an unfamiliar ease with one another, almost like they've known each other in some past life, but they both laugh that one off, continuing to talk about their past misdemeanours - Roni having been a bit of a tearaway teen with an ambitious streak, Joe having been arrested for shoplifting in his twenties, but both have calmed down significantly; her bar and his son veering them both off what could have been a pretty destructive path.

"You're fascinating," he says, picking up the bowl and rising to take it to the sink behind the bar. Roni follows with a smile, brushing her hair back behind her ears.

"I am? I don't think anyone's ever said that before. I normally get told I'm… secretive," she shrugs as he comes back to stand beside her.

"Then you must have opened up a great deal tonight, as I thought nothing of the sort." His arm tentatively extends out to lay his hand over hers and she too throws caution to the wind as she tilts her head up to look at him.

_Damn, she's gorgeous._

_Damn, he's gorgeous._

And it's happening. Like a pair of magnets, they are drawn together, Roni's eyes falling closed just as Joe's lips brush hers… and right at the wrong time, her phone buzzes.

With a soft curse, she turns away and fumbles for the offending object, her notifications telling her she has an email from none other than her no-show tonight. With a growl and every intention of telling this particular guest where to shove it, she opens the mail, only to find something quite unexpected.

_Operation Blind Date was a success!_

_You two lovebirds can thank us later._

_Henry & Lucy (with a little help from Theo and Big Guy)_


End file.
